Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 6 May 2020

A Blessed Season of Easter to you all amidst this Fourth Week of Easter.

Our Visitation Pastor, Don Nevile, shared this story from Peter W. Marty in Christian Century. Marty begins his article by talking about human relationships as our most precious natural resource. Then shifts to the challenge of COVID-19 social distancing by introducing one of my all time favorite background hymn stories from the Hymnal Companion to LBW. The hymn is ELW # 840. Here is a major section of Marty’s article:

What makes the coronavirus pandemic such a different situation sociologically is that we’re actually being asked to push away from one another. Social distancing requirements physically separate people, just as quarantine measures isolate them. Both deliver stress to the very social connections we depend on. The resulting loneliness, fear, and uncertainty cause many people to poke around for signs of hope. Martin Rinkart

One individual whose life witness comes to mind as inspirational hope in a crisis is Martin Rinkart (1586 – 1649). Rinkart was a gifted musician at several prominent churches in Saxony, Germany, before turning to the pastorate. He then served as pastor to the people of Eilenburg for 30 years before his death – years that almost exactly overlapped with the dreadful Thirty Years’ War.

Because it was a walled city, refugees from the surrounding countryside, besieged by invasions of the Swedish military, poured into Eilenburg. It didn’t take long for famine and pestilence to set in. In 1637 alone, 8,000 people died of disease – including other clergy, most of the town council, and Rinkart’s own wife. Rinkart was left to minister to the entire city, sometimes preaching at burial services for as many as 200 dead in one week. Known as a faithful and caring pastor, he gave away everything he owned except for the barest essentials to care for his family.

In the depths of the communal suffering that surrounded him, Rinkart wrote a hymn text with words now familiar to many of us:

Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices;Who wondrous things has done, in whom this world rejoices.Who, from our mothers’ arms, has blest us on our wayWith countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.

In another verse, Rinkart speaks of a bounteous God staying near us through our anxiety:

Keep us all in grace, and guide us when perplexed,And free us from all harm, in this world and the next.

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It’s a hymn worth coming back to when COVID-19 fears force us to hole up at home and wonder when we’ll see our most precious natural resource [human relationships] fully restored.

Rev. Peter W. Marty, From the editor/publisher Christian Century April 8, 2020, p. 3

Pastor Stephen (note this Sunday’s Mother’s Day connection to Rinkart’s hymn in stanza 1.)

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Another take on “our most precious natural resource”: Human RelationshipsCommunity Ministry Continues a Vital Service during the COVID-19 Pandemic:

Human Connections

It’s difficult to imagine that almost seven weeks have gone by since CM stopped its free Thursday community suppers “until further notice.” Most of us have been busy with our new realities at home and looking for ways to continue work from home. CM has been through, and will continue to face, many challenges with optimism and hope in the silver linings this pandemic presents to us.

I have personally been reaching out to our voucher clients and supper guests to try and ease their anxiety and direct them to food and support resources. Last Friday night I was invited to a supper guest initiated “Community Ministry

Group” Facebook messenger video chat event. There were six of us, laughing, sharing, praying and supporting each other. After the hour long visit ended I texted one of the participants a thank you and a question: “That went well. What do you think about us crazy misfits?” She replied to me, “Not crazy, or misfits, just family. Something I don’t know much about, but it’s kind of what I imagine.” I suddenly realized that although most of us have access to fun, FaceTime, Zoom, or video chat calls with family…some of us don’t have family with whom to enjoy this option. For some people, our CM gatherings are gathering with our “family.”

Let us continue to reach out and welcome in the stranger, the misfits, the lonely and the most vulnerable into our lives, to our tables and on our video chats. Let us continue to be God’s feet and hands in the world.

Stay safe, stay healthy and stay positive!

“Staying positive doesn’t mean you have to be happy all the time. It means that even on those difficult days, you know that there will be better ones to come.”

Blessings & Peace, Susan and the Community Ministry Management Committee: John Witzel (Chair); Joyce Schneider (Treasurer); Glenn Menard (Secretary); Helen Weber; Larry Kelly; Karen Gould; Uli Kuebler; Melissa Burke; Nancy O’Neill; Warren Schmidt; Rev. Susan E. Cole

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Trillium Troubadour Trio Becomes a Duo

The Trillium Troubadour Trio of last year became a duo this year. But we were very successful in raising over $1,000 for Lutherwood's Steps for Kids Virtual Walk. Lianne Knipping and Bill Brubacher stepped out on Sunday, May 3rd, a great day for walking!

As of Monday noon, the total raised by the walk was over $82,300. Thank you to all Trillium congregation members who sponsored them.

Should you wish to add to the total, donations will still be accepted until 31 May (www.lutherwoodstepsforkids.ca). You can email Lianne(knippingfamily@rogers.com) or Bill (brubachbi@outlook.com) for additional information.

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News from Interfaith Grand River

Greetings supporters and friends of Interfaith Community Breakfast I trust you are keeping well in body, mind and spirit during these unique times. This email is to update you on a number of initiatives in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic in Waterloo Region. I find the creativity and cooperation that this isolation is evoking to be a sign of hope for the future.

First of all, a big thank you!

Four weeks ago, at the request of one of the Working Groups of the Region of Waterloo Pandemic Response Control Group, we emailed you requesting information about the spiritual support that your local religious or spiritual tradition is providing during the COVID-19 pandemic. We asked you to include both services you are providing for your own people and those for people in the wider community.

The results were gathered and are now posted on the website of the Region of Waterloo at https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/living-here/resources/Religious-and-Spiritual-Supports-during-COVID-19.pdf The information continues to be updated weekly.

Now some information:1. The same Working Group which asked for our help has brokered the development of a new resource

addressing issues around grief, death, supporting loved ones who are dying, keeping vigil, and funerals within the context of the present pandemic and its protocols. This resource, entitled Grief, Dying, and Death During a Pandemic, has been prepared by local counsellors and faith leaders, and is posted

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at http://www.wellbeingwaterloo.ca/blog/grief-dying-and-death-during-a-pandemic/ It too will be updated as regulations change and to make it more culturally appropriate and to provide it in languages other than English.

2. Beginning next week, the Volunteer Action Centre plans to recruit volunteers to help with emerging needs and help manage potential burnout of existing volunteers during the present pandemic. If you or anyone in your religious or spiritual community is looking for additional opportunities to volunteer, contact the Volunteer Action Centre at (519) 742-8610 or volunteerwr.ca

3. In case you were wondering, the Interfaith Community Breakfast, scheduled for June 3, 2020, has, like so many other events, been postponed. The new date is June 2, 2021. Watch for information about other virtual Interfaith events between now and then.

Finally, a new, or rather continuing, ask:Have you heard about the many people who have been sewing much-needed medical masks, caps, and gowns for use by physicians and other frontline workers in the wider community? While some 615 masks, 1550 caps and 960 gowns have been completed, the organizers keep hearing from workers in Long Term Care facilities, community Personal Support, and homeless shelters that they don't have the supply they need to work safely.

So, the organizers are looking for more help. Ideally, they’d like to find point persons within local religious or spiritual communities to coordinate distributing gown kits to individual volunteers, collecting sewn gowns and delivering them to the local PPE donation depot. However, they are happy to receive help from individuals as well.

They expect to have kits including pre-cut fabric, ties, elasticized cuffs and instructions ready for distribution next week. All the sewist needs to supply is thread, of any colour. They can also broker the distribution of sewing machines from folks who have them but don't use them to folks who have the skills and interest but no machine.

For more information, email KW Medical Gowns <covidmedicalsupplieskw@gmail.com>

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National Prayer Breakfast Tomorrow – 7 May at 10:00 am EDT

Special guests, include: Bill Adsit - Member of the Tahltan Band and residential school survivor; Joy Smith - Educator, human rights champion, and former MP; The Hon. Graydon Nicholas, CM, ONB - Former Lt. Gov. of New Brunswick;

Music from the Rising Above Band.

A major focus of this year’s program will be blessing and encouraging Indigenous brothers and sisters in Christ. No registration or fee is required: www.nationalprayerbreakfast.ca

Canadians come together in times of crisis. Since 1964, the National Prayer Breakfast has been an opportunity to gather in the nation’s capital to lift up national leaders of all kinds, our brave men and women in uniform,

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and our fellow Canadians in need. This year is no different.

Sincerely, Cathay Wagantall, MP for Yorkton—Melville; Chair, National Prayer Breakfast

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Sandy Milnefor Interfaith Community Breakfast Planning Committee

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Parasource, our own church supply store in Paris, Ontario extends an invitation to: A Date Night Event You Don't Want to Miss!

Though quarantine may have closed your favorite places for date night, that doesn't mean you can't have intentional time with your significant other.

On May 7th @ 8 pm (in your timezone), cozy up with your loved one and join Gary Chapman (long time marriage counselor and author of The 5 Languages of Love) for his first ever Date Night at Home. You’ll discover the tools you need for improved communication, as well as new ways of expressing love to your significant other. Registration is open for Date Night so follow the link in the bio and get your tickets today!

Don't forget to check out the Parasource website for church supply and religious books needs. www.parasource.com

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A Litany for the Dying, the Departed, and the Grieving

GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2020 BY ANNE AND JEFFERY ROWTHORNThis litany is based on Psalm 40:1, and Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. Resident Scholars Anne and Jeffery Rowthorn wrote it in

response to their concern for a dear friend who died alone in a Connecticut hospital, and for his wife and children who, due to hospital regulations and “stay at home orders,” were unable to visit and make their farewells.

It broke their hearts. It breaks all our hearts.

For the Broken Hearted and the Crushed in Spirit

Creator God of the Universe, God of a thousand names and faces; in your mercy we implore you to hear the cries of the broken hearted and the crushed in Spirit. As we struggle to understand, you teach us that for everything there is a season, and a time for everything under heaven: a time to break down, a time to weep, a time to die, a time to keep silence, and always, a time to love. During this sad season of the coronavirus pandemic, we pray to you, confident that you will hear us in our distress.

For all who are sick at home, in hospitals, field hospitals, nursing homes and waiting for treatment in emergency rooms. God is near to the broken hearted—and saves the crushed in Spirit.

For all who are dying in hospitals alone, denied visits from family members. God is near to the broken hearted— and saves the crushed in Spirit.

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For those who have died, now free from every trace of illness; may they be held in the embrace of God who wipes away every pain and sorrow and leads the departed all the way home. God is near to the broken hearted—and saves the crushed in Spirit.

For the husbands, wives and partners who are deprived of one final visit, one final look and feel, one final embrace, one final opportunity to say one last time, “I love you.” God is near to the broken hearted—and saves the crushed in Spirit.

For the children of the dying, robbed of the opportunity to say, “Thank you, Mom.” “Thank you, Dad.” “You will be forever in our hearts. ” God is near to the broken hearted—and saves the crushed in Spirit.

For all who grieve their departed loved ones, especially those divided by distance and the isolation imposed by “stay in place” orders. God is near to the broken hearted—and saves the crushed in Spirit.

For family members who suffer due to their inability to plan funerals and bury their dead, God is near to the broken hearted—and saves the crushed in Spirit.

Holy God of the Universe: we cry out to you for help, and we pray that you will rescue us from all our troubles and bring about an end to the coronavirus pandemic. Be with us as we long for a time of healing, a time to build up, a time to laugh, a time to dance, a time to embrace, and a time for peace. We pray out of the depths of our hearts to you, God of the broken hearted and the crushed in Spirit, God of hope, whom we call Jesus, Allah, YHWE, Divine Mystery, Wakan Tanka, Great Spirit. Amen.

This litany may be used with the following copyright notice: “A Litany for the Dying, the Departed, and the Grieving,” Anne and Jeffery Rowthorn, 2020.

Anne Rowthorn has compiled four collections of ecological writings, including The Wisdom of John Muir: 100+ Selections from the Letters, Journals, and Essays of the Great Naturalist. Jeffery Rowthorn is an Episcopal bishop whose hymns have been widely published and he has compiled three hymnals. His most recent collection (with Russell Schulz-Widmar) is Sing of the World Made New: Hymns of Justice, Peace, and Christian Responsibility. Together, the Rowthorns are co-authors of God's Good Earth: Praise and Prayer for Creation. Information courtesy of Liturgical Press https://litpress.org/

Three of Jeffery Rowthorn’s hymns may be found in our Evangelical Lutheran Worship –

579 Lord, You Give the Great Commission 586 This is a Day, Lord, Gladly Awaited 684 Creating God, Your Fingers Trace

Jeffrey was the Episcopal Church in the USA’s Bishop for the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, based in Paris, (1994 – 2001) when Pastor Stephen was serving the Lutheran Church of Geneva. Together they provided pastoral care for Geneva’s Episcopal priest, Rev. Jerry Moser, when Jerry underwent a heart transplant surgery. Jeffrey was also an ecumenical participant at a Lutheran World Federation Consultation on 8

Worship in 1984, that Pastor Stephen also attended as Worship and Music Coordinator for the Western Canada Synod, LCA. Small world in the church, eh?

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Reduced Trillium Office Hours During Ontario's State of Emergency, Trillium's Office Hours are:

Wednesday & Friday – 9 a.m. to 12 Noon

Thank You to All Who Are Supporting Trillium During these unusual weeks when we have suspended Sunday worship, we are deeply grateful to those Trillium members who make use of PAR (Pre-Authorized Remittances) or Canada Post to get their financial offerings to the church. Thank you, too, to those who have offered assistance to help

other Trillium members with errands such as delivering groceries or medications. Trillium is a remarkable community of support to one another. Many thanks!